Rolle said he never tries to intentionally hurt somebody, and he even struck himself while trying to move his helmet to avoid a helmet-to-helmet hit. But when Rolle pummeled Clayton, Clayton had just finished bobbling the pass. Rolle felt if he did not make the hit, Clayton would secure the catch.

“There’s nothing else I could have done except let him catch the ball, grab him and hug him down like he’s my son,” Rolle said. “I don’t go with the intensions of having a head-on collision. That wasn’t a head-on collision. I was just playing football.”

So what’s an NFL safety to do? Watch the receiver make the catch in front of him? Or punish the guy trying to go over the middle?

it used to be the QB who had the responsibility not to put the WR in a position to be killed by laying him out over the middle. I would say this play is Flacco’s fault for throwing a bad pass into double coverage. I want to see the Giants take that penalty every time and not start playing like wusses cause they are a afraid of the flag.

Of course it works both ways – last year Steve Smith’s TD in KC came a play after the Chiefs DB got called for a BS penalty.

Whether the rule is applied equally or not, hurts every defense or not, I don’t like it. You don’t want to get hurt? Respect the middle of the field. Going over the middle is supposed to hurt. You’re not supposed to get injured, but you are supposed to get hit, right?

It showed on the field against the Ravens (who were very pass-happy for some reason) as our “starters” (whoever they are) looked terrible as a unit. Individually there were some nice performances – Corey Webster for example looked very good at CB and the defensive line played well.

On offense, the receivers seemed to get some separation but Manning couldn’t seem to get the ball where it needed to be. Is this an issue of not enough practice reps? Brandon Jacobs looked good the few times he ran. Shawn Andrews was a bright spot on the offensive line – considering how long he has been away from football I was pleasantly surprised.

The Giants offensive line managed well enough against the blitz considering who we were missing (playing we had William Beatty at LT, David Diehl inside at LG, Shaun O’Hara at C, Guy Whimper at RG and Kareem McKenzie at RT). Still the running game was stuffed by the Jets defense. The Giants 1st team offense overall looked weak.

There was one bright spot on offense. WR Victor Cruz was targeted 7 times and caught 6 passes for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns. Can a rookie free agent make the Giants roster at a relatively deep position (deep in the sense that there are proven guys and high draft pick guys who have [proved nothing like Sinorice Moss)? He did get a chance to return one punt and if he shows something there (which he hasn’t yet) there has to be a chance.

Well that and the fullbacks seemed to play well (though it won’t do any good without better run blocking from the offensive line).

So where to start with training camp? Well I am a defense guy so when ESPN said “Fewell has been the story of camp” I can’t help but think we start there. Spagnuolo was good for the Giants and while credit the players, you can’t help but think the right coordinator can make a big difference. So far, Perry Fewell seems like the right coordinator.

Also on defense, Inside Football has a nice piece on Aaron Ross in camp. Easy guy to root for. As they talk about Ross fighting for the right CB spot (battling Terrell Davis) they mention this on Fewell’s philosophy:

What will also make the defense better than in previous years is the new philosophy installed by Perry Fewell in which the secondary is putting more focus on watching the quarterback rather than the receiver.

“I love it. That’s something we did at UT (University of Texas),” Ross said, his face breaking out in a huge grin. “I had a chance to really make plays on the ball, and it’s something I fell like is a strength for me when I get to watch the quarterback and react to him instead of playing man-to-man all the time with my back turned to the ball; it’s a nice change up. You get to both. The two years before it was basically just press coverage, back to the ball, so it’s more PBUs (pass breakups) than interceptions, so this year I think we’ll have a lot more turnovers.”

Sounds good to me.

I’m told that it’s normal for new turf to be somewhat sticky but why would the Gmen be practicing on it if it was a problem? Of course it depends on who you ask. The Jets say it’s fine. But the Giants…

….several players noted that the stadium’s FieldTurf, an artificial surface widely used in the N.F.L. and in college football, felt plusher and softer than surfaces they were accustomed to.

“This turf kind of snagged his foot,” Coughlin said after Tuesday’s practice. “He didn’t get it up out of the turf.”